Islam does not believe in modernising
things which come from God. It would be presumptuous on our
part to think that modernism can mean improvement on the
work of God. If things in nature owe their creation to the
design of an Omniscient God, He must foresee all coming
vicissitudes and provide for the coming events. We find so
in the whole creation. New conditions, no doubt, do
necessitate repealing of the current order, but we find no
change in the material proved by nature. It comes within our
use to meet the new emergency. This century may be taken as
the time of inventions. Wireless, broadcast, aircraft, and
submarines have come within our acquisition within recent
times, but we did not invent any material for them. It was
only a new mechanism or a rearrangement of things already in
existence. We found a new adaptability for various things in
our new machines but the said properties did already exist
inherently in the materials used. Their new properties come
within our ken, but they are only discovered. On the other
hand, every man-made thing loses its use when events take a
new turn. New order demands reshaping of manual labour. This
is the distinction between natural and artificial things,
the former does not allow any change, but the latter needs
modernisation at each step.

This differentiating principle would
also decide the claims of various Books as coming from
Divine Origin. They would not, if from God, allow any
modernisation of their tenets or reinterpretation of their
text.New conditions in life must look for something
new in theology as well. But if a Book is a Word of God, the
language it has been couched in should be broad and rich
enough to meet the new demand. Religions based upon human
traditions have constantly felt the need of harmony with new
ideas, and being tenaciously attached to our respective
religions we hasten to modernism at every new cycle of
ideas.

Unfortunately, teachings of Jesus lost
their genuineness at their very inception. As his religion
was rejected by his own tribe, his early followers looked to
the gentiles for the support. In order to popularise their
faith in the world of the pagans, the early fathers had to
subordinate their simple religion to the demands of the
people beyond the pale of the Law. Various councils and
synods were called to modernise the faith on heathen lines,
so much so that the old religion became absolutely
metamorphosed by the end of the fifth century. The Revival
of Learnings brought forth a new regime which wanted to see
religion on a new basis in the West. The Reformation came
and satisfied the Christian world for some time. Then began
a keen struggle between the Church and Science. Though the
former made every effort to throttle down the latter, it
survived every persecution and came to prominence in the
end. The Church then began to enter on the campaign of
compromise. Modernism came to help it. Old doctrines became
moulded into new shapes. But as the matter of repealing came
into the hands of cultured peoplethe Modernist
Churchmenit was forsaken as a hopeless task. Doctor
Barnes desires now a new creed [The Daily Telegraph,
June 1931] "for the creeds," according to him, "were
not vitally infallible in both Religion and Science." The
learned doctor speaks a truism, but his dictum would not
hold water if the religion is based on Divine
revelation.

We know very little of the early
changes that Hinduism went through for want of history of
the Hindus. But it could not remain without modernism as it
had been based on human traditions. Last century saw a new
modernist in Hinduism in the person of Raja Ram Mohan Rai
who was followed in his pursuit by his worthy disciple,
Keshub Chandra Sen. Brahmo Samaj was started by them
on theistic lines. Most of their inspirations came from the
Quran. But as they could not accept the principle of
revelation from without, they had to build a new Church.
They made a big departure from Hinduism in its monotheistic
tenets. The Raja was succeeded by another modernist
in the Hindu faith -- Daya Nand by name. He founded a
new school of thought under the name of Arya Samaj.
Though his interpretation of the Vedas -- the Hindu
revelation -- was not generally accepted by the
Hindus, he was of the opinion that there was no polytheism
in the Book. But the spirit of modernity carried him beyond
reasonable limits. He tried to read all newly discovered
things in Science in the Vedas. Steam and electric mechanism
was existing in Vedic days according to his interpretation
of the Book. The Hindu community suffered a great loss in
his demise as no other interpreter of the Vedas could
follow his footsteps, otherwise we would have seen the
mention of broadcast, the wireless and of the submarine in
the ancient scriptures. Unfortunately for Hinduism, now its
learned votaries have been taken up by politics, the demands
of which cannot go hand in hand with ancient Hindu
teachings. A spirit of exclusiveness permeates the Hindu
religion. It not only divided its followers into various
castes, but it would not allow millions of people, popularly
called Untouchables, the ordinary rights of humanity.
This spirit goes detrimentally against the spirit of
unification which is the demand of the day. Hindu
nationalists saw the difficulty in their way and had to avow
their hopelessness in their religion. Every effort has been
made on the lines of modernism to remove the ban of
untouchability from millions of Indians, but all in
vain.

Islam and its Book, the Quran, need no
modernism. The Book is comprehensive enough to respond to
all new calls. Had it not been so it could not claim to be
of Divine origin. A Book coming from the All-Knowing God
should provide for all that which necessitates introduction
of modernism.